Lesson 3: Distress Control

 

Listen: "Whole Self Distress Control" (10:58)

(note: the original article for this recording is now found on this page.)

 

Unhealthy Lifestyle

The common lifestyle and diet are not healthy. Illness and degenerative disease are widespread due to intended ignorance, learned helplessness, poor nutrition, public poisons and stress.

There is really only one basic “dis-ease” -- "distress of the organism". Toxins, nutrient deficiency, stress and inadequate exercise are the interrelated causal aspects of this distress and subsequent inflammation, which may take the forms of arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, infections, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, etc.

Preventing disease and inflammation is a process of relaxing distress. Learning and actualizing the principles and methods of holistic natural health can clear illness and restore well-being.

 

 

The Principles of Natural Health Wellness

Detoxification, minimizing exposure to toxic influences, life-supporting nutrients, regular exercise and calming with good sleep and contemplation, will help prevent most ill health and serve the process of rejuvenation.

I use the terms "nutrients" or "nourishment", as information using the term "nutrition" has been co-opted by associations of dieticians for their own exclusive use.

 

Detoxification

Many of us are coming to understand that there are public poisons in our food, air, water, home, car, etc. We have been unknowingly exposed to these most of our lives. They lower IQ, weaken the immune system and harm health.

A thorough detoxification program, including colon cleansing, pure water, and periodic intentional cleansing of the liver and other organs of elimination, dietary improvement, lymph movement and perspiration is crucial to help the cells be healthy.

A cell cannot do its job if the membrane is clogged or distorted, if the proper balance of mineral ions are not present for pumping what is needed in and out, if poisons are interfering with cellular metabolism, or if necessary nutrients are missing to operate the Krebs Cycle of cellular energy production.

(more about detoxification in Lesson 4)

 

Nourishment

One of the pillars of good health is eating well. Organically grown natural foods and super foods are the essential selections for eating wisely and building better health.

Conventional thinking focuses on the “balanced diet” of protein, carbohydrates and fats through the food groups, now listed as: proteins (meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, beans, peas), dairy, grains, fruits and vegetables. Few people have been taught in their upbringing about even this degree of consideration about what to eat.

Traditionally, dietetics focuses on protein, carbohydrates, fats and fiber. Minimal daily intake values are set for vitamins and minerals, without regard to source or quality. The nutrients added to foods such as cereals, breads and milk, as well as those in most commercial vitamin and mineral supplements, are inorganic or synthetic lab chemicals, not in the best forms for supporting body functions.

Why are enzymes, antioxidants and pigments not included in the official guidelines? Is it assumed that all these will be present in commercial foods at the supermarket? If the soils were deficient, or if the food is not really fresh, or if it has been cooked or otherwise processed, there will not be much good nutrition in it.

Natural foods that build health are a combination of organically-grown fresh produce, ideally fresh from one’s own garden, supplemented by green foods, super foods and herbs. Adequate pure water and oxygen are essential also.

Foods and supplements should provide a variety of antioxidants, enzymes, pigments and other phytonutrients, as well as vitamins and minerals. Phytonutrients are adaptive, protective compounds, including antioxidants, produced by plants in response to environmental factors, such as sunlight, temperature extremes or insects. Some are anti-inflammatory, and they may support immunity, DNA repair, cellular communication and detoxification of carcinogens.

Antioxidants, needed by everyone, are special nutrient compounds that counter damaging free radicals and protect cells and tissues from oxidation damage. An antioxidant donates an available electron to a free radical molecule that is missing one. Otherwise it zings around the body searching for and stealing an electron from body tissue, creating another free radical that would do more damage.

Enzymes break down food in the digestive tract and serve as catalysts in the rest of the body for many metabolic activities. Pigments, such as chlorophyll and carotenoids are rich in minerals, antioxidants and other important compounds. Cooking kills the enzymes in raw food, leading to deficiencies of these important compounds.

Minerals are essential to the health of living organisms. Deficiency of minerals is common due to chemical agriculture. Minerals are normally restored to soil with properly done organic farming or gardening. Choose organically grown food whenever possible.

The NHANES III study on minerals found that most people in the U.S.A. are deficient in calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc and copper, all very important nutrients. Further, only 69% of other needed minerals are being consumed. (NHANES III, Phase 1, 1988-91, Advance Data No. 258)

Foods today produced by industrial agriculture and processing are vastly reduced in nutrient value from the foods of 50 years ago. Many crops are hybrid plants or genetically modified, deficient by design, and the soil minerals are depleted. Chemical fertilizers return only inorganic nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, while the composted organic matter that would restore other minerals, has been abandoned.

Then marketing practices of premature harvest and significantly elapsed time from harvest to consumption, leaves little nutrition for the consumer.

Worse, since the 1950's, consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables is down by 75%, while eating processed foods has gone up over 900%!

Inadequate knowledge and poor food practices have caused epidemics of heart disease, arthritis, cancer, diabetes. Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, dementia, Alzheimer’s and more. How can we protect ourselves?

Nutritional deficiency makes us more vulnerable to disease. With the lack of real nutrients in today’s common low-quality foods, consuming highly nutritious, fresh, organically-grown natural foods and protective super foods is crucial to good health in a poisoned environment.

The natural health wellness diet is mostly plant based. Meats and fish offer protein, fats and minerals, but are secondary source foods and not easy to digest. These should be eaten sparingly, if at all, and not be the main item.

Valuable food choices include seeds, sprouts and a combination of fresh organic produce items. Highly processed and GMO food products harm health and engender disease.

Dairy foods from cow's milk are not appropriate food for humans. They do not digest well and can contribute to health problems, especially when from GMO fed cattle.

Organically grown seeds, such as amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, flax seeds, alfalfa, beans, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds, are good sources of proteins, fats and minerals. So are eggs, if the chickens are free to roam and fed organically.

Seeds are embryonic foods, with all the compounds and energy needed to initiate and grow a new plant. These can be sprouted for activation of enzymes, formation of additional beneficial compounds and easier digestion.

Fresh, raw organic fruits and vegetables provide vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes, pigments and other nutrients.

Each of us needs to learn as much as we can about how to take care of our health, and to gather the various supplies to do so. Pure water is essential. Every home should have good water purification equipment.

Growing your own food for your household is wise, especially organically grown plants from non-GMO, heirloom seeds. Plan your garden ahead of planting time, obtaining good seeds and the soil building materials to grow superior food. You can grow sprouts, lettuce and other crops indoors, or in a cold frame or a greenhouse until the outdoor temp is suitable.

It is important to work with friends and relatives to prepare for a possible time of reduced food availability that may be coming.

(more about nourishment in Lessons 4, 5 and 6)

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." -- Hippocrates

"You can trace every ailment, every sickness and every disease to a vitamin and mineral deficiency."

-- Dr. Linus Pauling, Two Time Nobel Prize Winner

 

Relaxation

Financial Stress

The "rat race", insufficient funds, deep debt, unpaid bills, more month than money, shortage of cash -- this situation is the major source of stress for most people.

We have been programmed to want stuff, solicited into buying it with borrowed money, and compelled to work in the corporate system to pay for the goods, plus the interest and any late penalty charges. With taxes, fines, health or medical costs, tuition and entertainment added to the expenditures for food, fuel, housing and utilities, no wonder many folks are financially strapped.

If you can adopt the old adage of "make do till you can afford better", and shop for many items at thrift shops, yard sales and auctions, the funds can go a lot farther.

You do not need to make a lot of money to live well. Living below the official "poverty" income level in our society, you could be considered rich compared with most people in the world.

With a change of assumption about what is valuable, you can disengage from preoccupation with money and accumulation. Finding creative ways to support oneself while contributing to making things better in our world is worthwhile and fulfilling. Stressing over financial shortage is not.

 

Relational Stress

Stories of disaster, crime, injustice and opposition are the common fare of media that set a tone of disappointment or frustration for many of us. The pressures of fulfilling the expectations of others, whether pleasing a partner, meeting the needs of dependants, fulfilling the request of a supervisor or satisfying a customer, can contribute to anxiety and tension.

Often people feel victimized or abused by others or by the system. Some tend to get angry. If the anger is kept to oneself, it can fester inside, possibly leading to ill conditions, even cancer. If anger is expressed, one may make bitter remarks, or even lash out in rage, which disturbs someone else so they are stressed.

Most of us were taught very little about healthy ways of expressing our feelings and maintaining good relational harmony. The principle of caring for oneself and others in one's life in a positive, uplifting way needs learned and expressed in relationships. We are learning and growing together in this life. We need to help each other be kinder and better.

 

Methods of Relaxation

Relaxation can result from a variety of activities, helpers and interests: sleep, exercise, oxygen (full breathing, time outdoors, aerobics, supplemental oxygen), music, art, reading, fragrances, beauty, exploring the imagination, developing love and intimacy with relatives and friends -- all this can help us to relax inhibiting tension. 

Some ideas and techniques that can contribute to relaxation are:

1) being prepared for upcoming situations, and, to the degree possible, for future problem scenarios

2) clearing unresolved emotions, especially fears, by learning to calm oneself, breathe and "go with the flow"

2) deep breathing and exercises that get more oxygen to the cells of the body

4) massage of the body's muscles

5) soft and pleasant music

6) enjoyable art

7) nature and beautiful scenery

8) pleasant relaxing aromas

9) company of friends, loved ones and pets

10) effective time management

11) good sleep

12) contemplative meditation

Putting yourself in situations where there is a high potential for joy, creative expression or sharing a touching moment with someone you care about is very good for health. This could be a walk, a children's event, a moving performance, a personal project or time with a friend.

Older children and adults can learn better habits to relax anxiety periodically throughout the day, such as deep breathing, self-massage, mental breaks, meditation moments and short naps.

The clearing of emotional trauma, pain and tension can bring about the healing of oneself and others of various ailments. This can be administered through placing the hands on a problem area of your own or another person’s body, while contemplating affirmatively about the area getting better. Afterward, wash the hands to clean away unwanted vibrations.

Once stress control is understood better, there should be more willingness to risk an improving action. Difficulties encountered in dealing with a challenge will not be insurmountable.

Any new problems can be handled. Stress can be managed, cleared and surpassed. After all, it is least stressful to do what comes naturally -- to move ahead.

 

Breathing

Getting enough oxygen is important for all bodily functions. Many of us breathe in too shallow a manner, worsening our oxygen deficiency, which has already developed due to insufficient oxygen in today’s atmosphere. Breathing fully and getting outdoors, especially in the woods or by the sea, as well as aerobic exercise are all very important for health and relaxation.

Regular exercise is relaxing. Aerobic exercise is needed for oxygenation of tissues, moving lymph fluid and toning and strengthening the heart. A simple series of tensing and relaxing muscles step-by-step throughout the body is an effective way to relax that can be done at bedtime to ease into sleep.

 

Sleep

Good sleep is essential to good health and to performing at your best. This is the time the body does its healing repair work. As Shakespeare put it, sleep “knits up the raveled sleeve of care”. 

Choose a safe, dark place to sleep nightly, which is separate from the areas where you spend your time when awake.  Go to bed and get up at the same times daily. Think about plans or worries in the morning or on the way to work or on errands, not at bedtime.

The body gets its best sleep during the dark hours, a problem for those who work at night. A healthy pineal gland has a natural clock function, set in relation to the sun.  It would function to awaken each of us shortly after dawn if we were not still sleeping deeply from exhaustion. The pineal is important for our imagination and creativity also. It is impaired by intake of fluoride, another reason to avoid that abusive poison.

For those with difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep, when the above relaxation exercise doesn’t help, try supplementation with high quality magnesium an hour or two before bed. If you still have trouble, there is melatonin, a natural hormone in which you may be deficient, that is available as a supplement.

The herbs valerian root, hops, passion flower and chamomile help with nervousness, anxiety and tension, assisting one to relax. Valerian root is the original source of the compounds used in the calmative medicine Valium. St. Johnswort is known for helping with depression without the side effects of psychotropic medicines.

Another option is a homeopathic treatment for calming or sleep. Homeopathic remedies are prepared with a tiny amount of a substance to provide its energy without any toxic or allergic reactions.

Children need a lot of good sleep. Many do not get enough and it affects them in various ways. Establish a bedtime routine for younger children: a bath, a short book, and bedtime at 8 or 8:30 pm with no variance.

Ideally, adults would sleep from 10 or 11 pm to 6 or 7 am. We really should turn off the "tubes" earlier. The TV and computer are not really relaxing. LED and blue spectrum lighting interfere with getting into restful sleep. Enjoyable reading, especially an inspiring work, or a pleasant conversation, are better ways to wind down before bed.

Anyone who does not get as much sleep as they need will have a deficiency. You cannot operate at your best with sleep deprivation; and it can be a danger to yourself and others if you are driving, operating equipment or working with tools while tired.

You do not successfully catch up on missed sleep by "sleeping in" on weekends. To restore your diminished "sleep account", lengthen the time of sleep at night. A nap of 30 to 60 minutes during the day can be refreshing as well.

 

Meditation & Attunement

Many insights and creative ideas as well as relaxation come to people who make time for relaxing meditation for 15 minutes or so occasionally during the day.

One possibility is to imagine being in a relaxing scene, perhaps a pleasant field of flowers and grass with a gurgling stream flowing by, and just watch the thoughts flow along like the stream.

Ultimately, meditation is about clearing the monkey mind of disturbing or distracting thoughts. When thoughts arise, you can just let each one go on down the stream until the mind is calm and open to inspiration.

Attunement in reverence for creative awareness is a healthy modality.

Contemplating good thoughts, listening to pleasant music, experiencing nature, exploring the imagination, writing, art, enjoyable reading, good conversation, spending time with friends and loved ones, or other enjoyment of life and beauty, are avenues of relaxing the mind and serve attunement.

Limit exposure to negative news and horrible images on television. Receiving information over the radio or by newspaper, e-mail, internet or phone, allows your mind to create your own thought images, which can be less impacting and stressful. Nonetheless, limit negative exposure from all sources.

Any discussion of stress control today should include a reference to "Feng Shui", a Chinese term for "wind water" implying that everything effects something else. Feng Shui is the ancient practice of arranging the furnishings, other objects and colors in the spaces of one's home to balance the energies pertaining to each aspect of life. 

A room is divided into sectors, each of which is related to a part of one's life, such as career, relationship, health, wealth, family, the future, etc. The way that certain objects are displayed in these spaces, including their number, effects that area of life. Feng Shui can be quite complex. There are various practitioners available to provide a consultation.

Most important is the cultivation of the spiritual aspect of life -- attending to your relationship with the creative awareness behind all that is manifest.

 

Exercise

If you take time to exercise, it feels good. It is very important to your body's functioning well.

There are several types of exercise. Body building with calisthenics, weight-lifting and fitness equipment, tones the muscles, develops strength and stamina, and gradually bulges the muscles.

Aerobic exercise is effective for moving the lymph fluid, which carries certain nutrients in and wastes away from tissues. Any movement of the body that pumps muscles and stimulates deep breathing helps to move this fluid around.

Aerobic exercise also pumps the heart for toning and strength, while supporting a healthy resting heart rate. Aerobics include walking, hiking, running, biking, step exercise, swimming, dancing, skiing and many sports.

One of the best forms of aerobic activity is rebound exercise on a miniature trampoline, one of a variety of valuable home exercise equipment items.

Many people enjoy and benefit from simple stretching exercises, such as yoga and martial arts. These activities are relaxing, and can help move body fluids and tone organs.

 

Listen: "Is Your Home Causing Degenerative Disease" (10:38)

(note: the original article for this recording is now found on this page.)

 

Summary

The concept of holistic natural health and wellness has been growing for over 40 years. Still, the idea has not been presented simply enough, urgently enough or thoroughly enough to reach everyone, or to completely improve the health and life of every person pursuing some part of the whole wellness experience.

All of the principles of the holistic natural health protocol are crucial for being healthy and smart enough to navigate a world of public poisons, disinformation and manipulation.

Holistic natural good health comes by applying these four basic principles: detoxification of the body, eating a diet of truly natural foods, relaxation of stress including good sleep, and effective exercise. The digestive system may need help with cleansing and to function correctly.

These principles can be pursued on all levels of the whole self, the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of both the individual and society.

For example, detoxification needs to occur on the mental, emotional and etheric levels as well as in the physical body. Similarly, nourishment is essential for all aspects of our nature to have a long well life. In addition to organic, mostly raw natural foods, a healthy attitude, creativity and good thoughts, such as loving kindness, are important.

At the same time, relaxing both tension and the concern for what stresses us leads to a calmer approach to life.

A review of past problems and traumas can be done with an attitude of acceptance of reality, forgiveness, learning and gratitude for improvement. This helps us move on to new experiences with less impairment from recycling our past disturbances.

To remain healthy and clear minded in a toxic world requires moving beyond ignorant mistaken assumptions to learn detailed knowledge of self-protection with these holistic natural health principles.

The importance of this total concept is that it is crucial for bringing human life to the next level -- free, healthy, well-managed, cooperative, ecologically responsible living all around the planet.

The other scenario of short-lived, unhealthy, dumbed-down, toxic bio-robots, trapped, poisoned, fully observed and ignorantly functioning in a top-down, high tech, controlled system run by artificial intelligence, would be hell on Earth.

The elitists’ divide-and-rule agenda promulgates public poisons, economic dislocation, manipulation of nature, ill health, ignorance, confusion, social chaos, fear, war and depopulation, as strategic elements to gain full control.

It is especially important to expose the deception, stop the dissemination of public poisons and clean up our environment, from home to planet.

Educating ourselves and our children, and raising the awareness of other relatives and friends, are very important activities. We need to develop strong community relationships through small support groups working together to learn and plan for making things better.

Well-being includes everything that makes health and life better for each and all of us. For the most part, that means ideas, experiences and things that are uplifting, supportive, natural, healthy, beneficial, harmonious, peaceful, loving, and more.

The understanding and practice of holistic natural health supports the energy and clarity for working together to transform our societal organization to one of mutual respect, cooperation, self-fulfillment and expanded holistic consciousness.

 

Resources

research for yourself

 

Go to Lesson 4: Support for Basic Body Functions

Back to Lesson 2: Public Poisons

 

Affordable Effective Water Purifiers

ReallyWell.com - natural health products

The Best Organic Milled Flax Seed + Other Super Foods

 

 

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